Assistant Category Specialist

We are pleased to share that following a review and restructure, Walsall Council has a number of new and exciting opportunities in its Procurement and Contract Management team. Our team support a wide range of service areas across the Council including services for Adult Social Care, Children's Service, Public Health, Construction, FM, Waste, Fleet, Finance, HR, and ICT to name a few. With significant changes in public sector procurement with the UK's Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) coming into force, bringing with it the challenges of a major overhaul of the procurement and contract management rules, and a heightened focus on transparency, integrity and commerciality, this is an ideal time to join our established team and positively impact change., Our People Category has four fantastic opportunities available for two Category Specialist roles and two Assistant Category Specialist to strengthen our capacity to deliver a wide range of procurement activity. We work in close collaboration with many key internal and external stakeholders that include Council wide service areas, vulnerable service users, providers, VCSEs and of course, our valued supply chain. We are not afraid to think outside the box and challenge the 'norm', we pride ourselves on our flexible and pragmatic procurement advice to achieve the most advantageous procurement strategy, and to ensure successful project delivery.

• Previous jobTeacher of English - Paulet High School..., We are seeking a commercially minded positive individual with a 'can do' attitude to work collaboratively with stakeholders to successfully deliver a range of procurement activities. Ideally, you will:
• be flexible and pragmatic in your approach
• have the ability to manage multiple workstreams across your category area at different stages of the procurement cycle.
• work with a variety of teams planning and defining services and ensuring procurement projects meet local objectives to support the Council's corporate vision of delivering excellent services and improving life chances for all Walsall residents., This post is covered by the Government's Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.
  
  At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole - particularly your 'Supporting Information' - reflects your own voice.
  
  Our projects vary in value and complexity with sometimes challenging timescales. Examples of recent and current/future projects include:
• Healthy Child Programme circa £6M annually (lifetime value £60M) - Provider Selection Regime
• Integrated Sexual Health Services circa £2M annually (lifetime value £20M) - Provider Selection Regime
• Community Based Support Services circa £28M annually (lifetime value £224M) - PA23 Light Touch Framework
• Support Living Services circa £20M annually (lifetime value £160M) - PA23 Light Touch Framework
• Residential and Nursing Care Services circa £54M annually - PA23 User Choice
• Home to School Transport circa £10M+ annually - PCRs 2015 DPS
• Healthy Eating for Families and Children circa £250k annually (lifetime value £1.25M) - PCRs 2015 Open Process